Successful on Kickstarter

A village full of strange people

The old cemetery will scare the shit out of you ... really :)

A wood full of mysteries

Might there be a treasure hidden somewhere?

Blog

[2019-02-13] Prototype Development

The development of more game prototypes is marching on. I worked on three prototypes in the last three weeks - all in the world of Nelson (Platformer, TopDown RPG and Turn Based Strategy). But I will work on a different prototype now. More infos about this project will be released later. I need to work on a lot of graphics first.

[2018-12-20] Steam Sale

Christmas is coming. Because of that, I have a very nice gift for you. There will be a 10% discound at the steam sale.

[2018-10-14] Kickstarter Update #16 arrived

[2018-10-14] Outtakes

While putting everything together, I found two very nice outtakes of our recordings (only german). Have fun.

Outtake #1 - Nelson

Outtake #2 - Witch

[2018-08-30] Concept graphic for a possible Nelson spin-off

At this point I am "Leaking" a concept graphic for a possible Nelson and the Magic Cauldron spin-off. The Journey of Nelson should continue even after the adventure game. If this will be produced is based on the success of the adventure. But I really want to create this game ... and have a lot of crazy ideas.

[2018-08-21] Gamescom 2018

Awesome day at the Gamescom 2018 in collogne. Maybe next year I can show my game at the Indie Booth. Who knows.

[2018-07-01] Kickstarter Update #14 arrived

[2018-06-14] Kickstarter Update #13 arrived

[2018-05-02] Box Version is nearly finished

Today the printed box by [www.Letterjazz.com] has arrived. The look and feel with the stamped letters and embellishments is fantastic. There is only one ingredient left to be created ... and of course the finished game.

[2018-04-22] Kickstarter Update #12 arrived

[2018-03-24] Kickstarter Update #11 arrived

[2018-03-11] Talkie Version - First Test

This weekend we tested the music and some studio voice recordings (in german). See and hear for yourself.

[2018-02-14] Milestone reached

Hello everybody,

in the new update I would like to inform you about the timetable. But first, I like to tell you, that the game is completely playable!!! That was a mountain of work and I am happy to reach this milestone. I will have to test everything to get a feeling about the playtime.

Changes since the last update

What I could not show in the Kickstarter-Update are the two screens for Options and Save/Load. Here are two images of these full functionally screens. If you are reading my blog or you are following me on Instagram, you might have seen these already.

Timetable

I will have to do a lot of finetuning and testing until April. After these tests the text will be translated (don't worry, not by me).

We could start the voice recording in summer. Not all speakers are found by now, but it should be shortly. Hopefully the studio is ready after the modification.

If everything is going by plan, the game could be ready at the end of this year. It will be downloadable for the bakers first. The Box-Version could take a little bit longer. But the digital version can be downloaded by them, too.

[2018-01-01] Happy New Year 2018

[2017-10-08] Cards for the box version

A handfull bakers of the kickstarter project have chosen the box version. A part of this box will be a set of game cards, which will be a part of some jokes in the game. Here you can see one example of the front and two examples of the backsite of the cards.

[2017-09-26] Finally ... We did it!

The music for Nelson and the Magic Cauldron is funded.
Thanks to all bakers for the support to create the music for this point and click adventure.

I will post an update when the next step of the development is done. You will see new ingame material soon.

Stay tuned and thank you very much
- Manuel

[2017-09-23] Newspaper article

The kickstarter campagne will end in a few days. Today a newspaper article of the local Ruhr Nachrichten about my work has arrived. It is german only.

[2017-09-19] Exclusive box version as reward

Nelson and the Magic Cauldron will be enhanced by a exclusive box version by Letterjazz. But it can only be purchased unitl the 26th of december, when the campagne will end.

In the golden age of roleplaying and adventure games the games where sold in a wunderful printed box including printed handbooks, maps and much more - next to a pile of discs for the game itself. Even opening the box should transport the athmosphere of the game.

The box of the game 'Nelson and the Magic Cauldron' will have a wunderful printed and stamped surface. It will include a map, some special game cards and probably some secret surprises. The game itself will be on a stylish USB stick.

The game is already successfully funded on Kickstarter. Many adventure fans asked for a box version, so now is the time to reveal it. A normal box version can be produced by many people, but a box of this quality can only done by letterjazz. The classic printing machines fit perfect for a classic point & click adventure.

[2017-09-16] Funded !!! YEEEEEESSS !!!

The music for the game is funded! Thank you! You guys are really awesome!

Thanks to all bakers for the support to create the game with all the music. A very special thanks goes out to my pal Peter, who supported the campagne more than any other person.

The first goal is done, but I would love to reach the second one, too.
We will see...

Thank you very much for believing in me. I will do my best to create the funniest point & click adventure possible.

- Manuel

[2017-09-12] Kickstarter Update #4: Special ingame appearance by german clinic

The german clinic "Klinikum Dortmund" started a social media live session a couple of month ago. With discourses of the doctors the clinic reaches a wide range of people. Because of that, there will be two characters inspired by these sessions in the adventure game. As a homage of course.

A new area in the game
The last area, which has to be created, is the dungeon. This will be hopefully finished this weekend.

Kickstarter goal
Right now we reached 75%. But we are not at 100%. Please tell all your people about this adventure game.
Thank you.

[2017-09-06] Kickstarter Update #3: New scenes for the game

The castle courtyard
The well in the castle courtyard is a special scene where you can meet the baron and - later - the frog. There has to be a frog around, when you have a well in the game. :)
But I don't want to spoiler all events in this scene.

The witches lair
This scene can be reached from the treehouse and the lair is unterneath the tree. You should recognize the three people on the pictures and the three skulls on the backwall shelf. :)

The shop of the blacksmith
Here you can by all disgusting items in the game. For example, some game souvenirs like a doll of a ingame character. You will see the result in the game after I finished drawing all items.

Kickstarter goal
Right now we reached 59%. But we are not at 100%. Please tell all your people about this adventure game and this campagne. You could tell them, a cute kitten somewhere in this world will die, if we don't reach 100%. It is just an advice. :)

[2017-09-01] Kickstarter Update #2: New game scene

I continue working on the game scenes while the kickstarter campagne is still running. Today I finished the hospital and put it into the game. More details about the scene will be released soon. One or two new characters will be added. You should be curious.

Nearly all game scenes / backgrounds are finished. Three more - and a labyrinth / dungeon - need to be completed soon. Detailed sketches of new scenes are finished. This fall, all scenes should be completed.

Right now we reached 52%. Thank you for your support. This is awesome, but we are not at 100%. Please tell all your friends about this magical adventure and why everyone in this world should support it.

[2017-08-27] New Kickstarter campaign started

The new Kickstarter campagne of "Nelson and the Magic Cauldron" is now online.
You will find all information and the campagne video here:

Please support this project and tell all your friends about Nelson.
Thank you.

[2017-08-25] Gamescom impressions

Here are some impressions of the gamescom in cologne, germany. Today I was on a commercial tour for the kickstarter campagne, that will start on sunday the 27th.

[2017-08-16] New Kickstarter campaign after Gamescom

On the 27th of August (at eight o'clock (CET)) the new kickstarter campaign of 'Nelson and the Magic Cauldron' will start - after gamescom. The countdown on the webpage is already working.
The goal is to receive the money for the music/sound production. Hopefully enough for talkie, new content and new platforms, too.
Please save the date and help as good as you can and like to.

[2017-07-16] Development progress video

Today I have another video for you about the state of development. Enjoy.

[2017-06-23] Project progress with Visionaire and RSS feed

The remaining talking animations and the map are finished - lightmaps, too. The new main menue needs little adjustments with the options. Saving and loading will be testet this weekend. Some indoor scenes and details has to be drawn and after this the dialogs and quests can be added one by one.

Edit [2018-08-03]: This RSS Feed will be closed. The RSS support of other software developers is sadly running out. Please check on the news directly in the blog.

[2017-06-04] Weekend Update

I tested the Wacom MobileStudio Pro this weekend and I am pretty happy with this device. The castle of the baron could be created and now I have to draw the inner castle during the next months. The sketches are already finished.

[2017-05-23] Ingame Items

Today I have another video for you about the graphic creation. But this time it is about the ingame items of the adventure.

[2017-05-14] Flyer for Gamescom

I prepare myself with a new flyer for gamescom. It will be a Din A5 flyer with both sides printed. See for yourself.

[2017-04-27] Tavern and Multiple Choise Dialogues

The Tavern had to be drawn, too. A couple of scenes are missing, but not many are left to do.
I added multiple choise dialogues including graphics (see Instagram posting ).

[2017-04-20] New Kickstarter campaign this fall and new website

The game could be released in 2018. This fall the new kickstarter campaign will help me to finish the game. I can draw anything by myself, but I am no musician and I need some voice talents for a talkie version. It all depends on your help.

Additionally I created a new website for Nelson. I am curious about your feedback.

[2017-03-30] New drawing tool

Today I got a new drawing tool for creating the graphics for the adventure. This Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 should work fine and drawing is more rich in detail.

Update: And as you can see in the second picture, drawing is very comfortable.

[2017-03-28] Two new scenes

Today I finished two new scenes for the game. Now I need to draw a couple of indoor graphics.

[2017-03-23] The Cemetry

The little cemetry in the woods is now part of the Visionaire Studio project. I had to make three of the gravestones smaller and had to add some detail.

[2017-03-21] Cemetry - time lapse video

Here you will see the drawing of the cemetry for the point & click adventure as a time lapse video. You can watch my steps od procedure in less than three minutes. I might add some detail at later. By weekend I should have the scene working in Visionaire Studio, so that Nelson can walk in it.

[2017-03-06] Development progress

Today I will like to show the progress in the development. I added the interface (picture 1), which is a not the final status. The pumpkin will show the menu, the map is for fast traveling and the cauldron will turn on/off the inventory.
You will be able to travel to any place of the map (picture 2), as long as the story will let you.
The windmill (picture 3) is now animated. I will show this in one of the next gameplay videos.

[2017-03-02] Animations

Nelson needs a front and a backside. This weekend I will have to do a lot of animation for Nelson and the NPCs.

Here is the first version of "Nelson and the Magic Cauldron" with Visionaire Studio. I was surprised, how fast the development with this software is. But there is still a lot of work to do. For example the missing talking animations fpr the NPCs and Nelson is still walking to the side.

[2017-02-24] Items

The development with Visionaire Studio is speeding up. So I had to draw a couple of items, to create the inventory and the ui shortly.

[2017-02-15] system switch

The Development of Nelson and the Magic Cauldron is speeding up. The reason für this is the system switch from Unity (with Adventure Creator Plugin) to Visionaire Studio. And the colorising of the last scenes are nearly finished.

[2017-02-08] New scene sketches

I created a lot of sketches for scenes the last days. They will be hopefully colorized this weekend. The main graphics for the game will be finished and I am able to start the construction of the game. Despite all the tests and prototypes, Nelson will be a classic point & click adventure game with a lot of humor.

[2017-01-08] Nelson: Platformer Test in Unity

A short test of Nelson and the animation. Could this work as a platfomer game? A Alpha Prototype in Unity is completed and even the parallax scrolling is working fine. We will see.

[2016-12-07] Scetching game elements

Waiting for the new Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 leads to new scetches of game elements. For example a outhouse, a hearse for the undertaker and the eternal annoyed cat.

[2016-11-24] T-Shirt for Nelson

My outfit for the next German Conic Con in Dortmund (2.-4. Dec.) has arrived today. I will be there on saturday and will meet many friends. I'm curious about what will happen.

[2016-11-11] Magic Cauldron Speed Painting with Krita

The second speed painting is finished. Nelson needs a magic cauldron, but the result will be redone by myself in comic style.

[2016-10-27] Magic Potion Speed Painting with Krita

I was inspired by the Krita Tutorial of GDQuest for my first speed painting (without sound) of a magic potion. This drawing took one hour of time. I am not sure, if I will use the graphic in the game, because it is in comic style.

[2016-10-18] TBS concept graphic

In the world of Nelson could be filled with turn based fights. But this is only a concept graphic for now.

[2016-10-08] Characters for the first chapter

Here you can see all characters for the first chapter of the game. All of them need to be animated completely, except Nelson.

[2016-10-07] New characters for the game

The world of Nelson needs new characters. The heads have been finished today. The rest will follow this weekend.

[2016-09-30] Creating scene elements

After finishing the Beta 2 of Animals on Board I will create some new scenen elements this weekend.

[2016-09-26] New scetches for the game

This weekend I had some time to create some scetches for the new location "the cemetry" and a carriage, which will be placed in another scene. All scetches will be coloured in a couple of days.
Additionally, I need to create a couple of new characters and animations for the existing scenes in the game. This will be a lot of work for the next month.

[2016-09-23] Nelson and the Magic Cauldron - development started

The development of "Nelson and the Magic Cauldron" has been started. This week the running animation of Nelson has been completely renewed. With the new version of the Adventure Creator all previous scenes were recreated. In addition, there is now a map of the world of Nelson. More information will follow shortly in this dev blog.